A Whole New World
by trytoreachout123
Summary: (AU) Have you ever wondered what it would be like to have Thor, Loki, Darcy, and Jane, all work for SHIELD? No? Well, now that I have subtly planted that possibility in your head, read this random crossover to see how our Agents of SHIELD gang fares working alongside demi-gods to battle HYDRA. Sequel to The Secret Lives of Introverts. [Lokane, Skyward, & naturally, Fitzsimmons]
1. Pilot

"What. The. Hell."

Jemma tried not to roll her eyes and continued to work next to her lab partner and best friend in the whole world. She tried to remind herself that while Fitz went off in one of his usual rants.

"How and why are we stuck in this lab when we could be working towards genuine research? I mean how we are expected to make a difference in society when society has banished us precious scientist who actually know the difference between thermodynamics and thermonuclear dynamics?" Fitz muttered, indignant and pointing at a research paper he was reading, conducted by a SHIELD research lab.

"Oh Fitz, stop being so dramatic," Jemma mumbled her articulate English accent, "At least they gave us a lab."

The Scotsman didn't care and went on whispering profanities at the author of the research paper as he read on. Some errors in the paper even made Jemma flinch. She tentatively placed the test tube she was holding down and walked over to Fitz, reading along behind him. SHIELD did have some of the finest scientist trying to create weapons now to defeat intergalactic intruders, but even with the army of brains, they were low and still in the dark. Little did they know, the two scientists tucked away in a small lab facility were actually all they needed.

"This metal they're proposing we use of this alleged pistol doesn't exist," Jemma shook her head, sighing.

Fitz tilted his head. "What if we used ruthenium?"

"It has a high boiling point, it wouldn't suffice."

"No but if we laced it with mercury?"

"That could work but we'd need a stronger alloy than ruthenium."

"And something less expensive."

"But it could work. What about germanium?"

"We could test it in a basic platted environment…"

"Coating aside, the germanium could hold the parts in well."

"Oh! We already have micro-engager, we can use that to separate Isovaline for the bullet."

"Isovaline?"

"Just an idea."

"But that's an amino acid."

Fitz scratched his head trying to figure out Jemma's direction.

"Simmons, that's brilliant but we'll need to run at least four dozen tests to ensure that it's…"

"Safe?" Jemma finished smiling. "You know it's of alien origin and there has been an incident with the acid already, they injected it into a cat did you know what happened? The cat's small intestine-"

"Alright, we'll try it, don't finish that story, I just had lunch," Fitz shushed her.

Jemma pulled out a stool and sat next to Fitz, recording their conversation. Fitz, however, got up, clearing his lab table and placing materials quickly, taking out charting paper and all his tools which he hadn't gotten a chance to use in quite a while. Engineering was underappreciated in SHIELD, much to Fitz's dismay.

"Fitz, perhaps we should wait till we begin. Shouldn't we finish analyze the DNA the Hub sent us to look at? We still have to identify the…"

"They have forensics for that Simmons," Fitz quickly interjected, "Plus, this is cooler and much more exciting."

With a straight face, he got to work. Shaking her head, Simmons joined, the test tube she had been working on was dismissed to the fridge in the corner among the petri dishes, forgotten.

* * *

><p>"Agent Coulson," Carrie rushed up, shocked. "You-you're…you're alive?" she asked.<p>

"Yeah, I guess so. Hi," Phil Coulson said, smiling a little. He was used to the reaction but it still amused him.

"Well, that's great," Carrie smoothed her shirt and fixed her nametag. It was not every day a Level 8 operative entered the administration facility. Especially is that agent just had come back from the dead.

"How-how-um-how?" Carrie tried, so hard, to speak but clearly her mind wasn't functioning.

"How can you help me?" Coulson asked, knowing very well that that wasn't her question, but he wasn't going to do the talking tonight. He was on a mission of his own. "I'm looking for Melinda May, can you point me to her? I know it's lunch break, but I have she's probably still working."

"Uh, fourth floor, she should be in there, yes, I don't think she went out," Carrie thought, distracted. Agent May was quite mysterious. According to Carrie, she had no life outside of SHIELD. But it wasn't like she was the life of the party at work either. The Asian woman had a confident but deadly vibe around her which scared Carrie, a twenty-something intern.

"What room?"

Carrie pulled out a handy map which was in a pile of yellowing maps. Yup, they hadn't had visitors in a long time.

As professionally as she could, she highlighted May's room number, remembering that her cubicle was in the left side in the back. She handed the crumpling map to the agent in front of her, blushing a little, making a mental note to print out a new batch of maps. Imagine if Director Fury dropped by next! What would that be like?

"Thanks," Coulson said curtly, and his footsteps snapped her out of her daydream as she watched Agent Coulson walk into the elevator.

The building was mostly empty, everyone had left to go have lunch.

But May was still there, stapling important documents, in a small cubicle in the back corner of the large room.

She didn't acknowledge Coulson as he entered, not even when he stood right in front of her.

"I have a new job offer for you, Agent May," Coulson greeted her, trying to be cheerful.

She didn't say anything.

"May, listen, we need you on the field."

"No you don't," she finally said.

"I do. I need you to join my team. You already got the notice right?"

She remained quiet.

Coulson sighed. "C'mon, it'll be like the old days."

"Is that supposed to be a good thing?"

"Alright, it wouldn't be like the old days. We'll ensure it's nothing like the old days. Please May, this is different. You wouldn't be alone. Ever," Coulson swore.

May remained quiet. She knew either way Coulson was going to get his way.

"The Bus leaves at 1 tomorrow."

"You didn't tell me what the job entails Coulson. I'd rather not see any combat."

Coulson smirked. "Oh don't worry. Just be at the Hub by 1."

May glared at him, annoyed. "Why?" she asked, curious to what Coulson wanted from her.

"Well, we need a pilot of course. The Bus isn't going to fly itself is it?" Coulson winked.

* * *

><p><em>AN: Hello, hello! So this is a crossover between Agents of SHIELD and Thor. It's actually a sequel to _The Secret Lives of Introvert_s, I highly recommend you read that first because that will explain the whole Lokane ordeal and where the characters are now. Please, pretty please, review, especially if you have any wise words or opinions, I'd love to hear them all. And please continue to read if you'd like to see the characters of Thor work for SHIELD in this random crossover. Hope you like it!_

_Also much apologies for the specious science, if you happen to be a science major and were like "what nonsense is this" well sorry for any discomfort caused in my attempt at Fitzsimmons-speak. _


	2. The HQ Air

Agent Grant Ward found himself shoved into the interrogation cage although he couldn't exactly remember doing anything wrong.

"There's been a mistake," he tried again, but the officer showed no emotion and Ward wasn't exactly the type of guy to beg either. So he did what any grown specialist would do. He folded his arms and sulked in his seat until the famous Agent Hill strolled in with purpose that made Ward straighten up.

"Agent Ward, I assume you have no idea why you're here?" she checked, giving him a condescending look.

"Nope," Ward said loudly, his jaw tensing. "But I do know that this, whatever this is, is against protocol."

Agent Hill rolled her eyes. "Relax; we're not going to throw you out. Not right away, anyway."

To any normal person, Ward's glare would have sent them on a frenzy to save their lives. But Maria Hill was an equal match.

"Why are you here Agent Ward?" Hill began suddenly.

"Because that bald agent behind you dragged me inside."

"No, I mean in SHIELD. Why did you join?"

To be fair, even Ward wasn't sure why he had gotten into to SHIELD. But he had worked to goddamn hard to be questioned like this.

"Are you questioning my loyalties, Agent Hill?"

"Should I?" she raised her eyebrow, challenging.

"It would be a waste time. Oh wait, this already is," he mocked.

"So you think SHIELD is a waste of time?" Maria made a couple notes on her clipboard, making Grant a little nervous.

"That's not what I said-"

"Okay, next question," Agent Hill interrupted.

And so a lengthy interrogation began that would mark the beginning of a lengthy chapter in Ward's life.

"_Welcome to Level 7, Agent Grant Ward."_

* * *

><p>"I'm nervous," Simmons fidgeted, pulling at the hem of her shirt.<p>

"You should be," Fitz muttered, equally afraid, earning a look from Jemma. He shrugged his shoulders in defense. "Well, this could define our careers, not to mention open up so many opportunities, perhaps even out of SHIELD. Only if it works out, otherwise, it will be close to a fatal blow."

"Yes, well you're attitude isn't helping," Simmons mumbled.

Fitz backed up a little, surprised and Jemma's sudden sass. "My attitude wasn't a problem when we were in the lab."

"Just because I don't say anything doesn't mean I don't mind."

"I think the HQ air is getting to you," Fitz said, not jokingly. He preferred the patient Simmons who could calm him with her presence back in the lab whenever he felt below happy. But here, in the center of SHIELD, the headquarters, Jemma Simmons was far from calm. The rush of people, most of authority, and the magnitude of power radiating from the lone building was enough to give the hearts of a couple of young scientists, who hadn't gotten much sunshine in the last year or so, a significant cardio-workout.

Eventually a lady came to collect them and drag them inside what looked like glamourized jail cell.

The both were put into stiff chairs and like the specialist before them, they waited and were quite intimidated when Agent Hill marched in again, clipboard in hand, her eyes calculating and her gestures apt and curt.

"Agent Fitz? Simmons?" she called off, checking her paper.

"Yes," they both replied at once.

"We're simply here to ask you a couple questions regarding you're work on SHIELD so far," Hill told them.

"What kind of questions?" the Scotsman asked.

"I will be asking the questions, if you don't mind," she replied.

"Of course," Simmons answered for both her and the distraught Fitz. She placed a hand on his arm which effectively got him to relax from his stiff position.

Agent Hill watched the little interaction and made more notes. This was a test neither one of them were prepared for.

"Let's begin. We'll start with you Jemma. Why are you here?"

* * *

><p>Some hours past. Apparently interrogating scientists was not an easy task because they were most likely to over explain and undermine the patience of an agent.<p>

"The original formula that was created was bloody appalling," Fitz said passionately.

"Well it wasn't horrible, just very inaccurate and the researchers were clearly misguided," Simmons added, equally enthusiastic.

Maria was now leaning back against her chair, notes forgotten. Somehow the pen had gotten into Fitz hand as he began drawing diagrams on her extra papers.

"But we reconstructed this new design, all on our own mind you, and it works, I'm telling you," Fitz said, adding more notes on the paper Hill had no way of comprehending.

"Yes, it's quite a revolution. We can disarm people without killing them. I know something similar has been already produced but this is more powerful since it actually knocks out the subjects of a larger period of time, but when they wake up, they are healthier as ever," Jemma said proudly.

"Do you people even hear what I'm saying? I didn't even ask you this, this crap, why are you telling me this?" Hill complained, pinching the bridge of her nose.

"So you don't doubt us," Fitz muttered as Jemma made grammatical corrections to his notes. They were too busy crafting the redesign to notice another agent step in.

"Ah, Coulson, here to save me," Hill greeted him, getting up.

"How'd it go with the kids?" he asked her quietly, studying the young people arguing over a piece of paper.

"First there was Agent Ward who didn't want to tell me anything. It was like pulling teeth. With these two, it's like a reverse; they are like eager kindergartens freaking explaining to me the birth of life. I swear I have not been taught so much chemistry in all my years in school than I have in these two hours. Get me out of this."

Coulson smirked and nodded, dismissing her. He moved her chair to sit and finally the noise made Fitzsimmons look up.

"Where did Agent Hill go?" Fitz asked, pointing his pen at Coulson.

"Intermission."

"Excuse me?"

"Consider it a pee-break," he said, nonchalant.

Fitz blinked and then looked and Simmons who looked put out.

"She's not coming back is she?" she asked Phil quietly, sighing. So much for them getting discovered.

"Why the long faces? Are you unhappy to see me?" Coulson asked.

Fitz crumpled up his paper in frustration, fighting the urge to fling it at someone.

After an awkward silence, Jemma finally spoke up.

"You see sir, Fitz and I were hoping HQ called us in to talk about our new design for the Night-Night pistol. Clearly there has been a misunderstanding."

"Oh no, there's no misunderstanding. We called here to offer you an in-field opportunity. Your expertise is best in the field, not in some lame lab in the corner of nowhere," Coulson explained.

The scientists looked at each other, then at Coulson.

"What?" they asked, together.

"It's a promotion," Coulson said smiling.

"What does that even mean?" Fitz asked.

"We can't work in the field. Can we work in the field? I don't think we can. Fitz, can we?" Jemma asked bewildered.

The excitement in her eyes immediately put Fitz on guard.

"No. No, absolutely not," Fitz said, shaking his head vigorously getting up.

"C'mon Fitz, it's a new opportunity. Didn't we discuss how any job is better than the one we have, rotting away inside a small facility no one cares about?"

"Yes we did but getting a chance to be alive is also an opportunity. And you can't live in the field Jemma. You die. We'll both die, and we'll die in the first day. Look at us, it's like we're waiting to be killed."

Simmons breathed once heavily and turned to Coulson.

"I'll do it, I'll join," she said impulsively.

Coulson smiled and Fitz yelled.

"No!"

"Congratulations, Agent Simmons, welcome to our team," Coulson reached his hand out which Simmons shook, feeling shy.

"What are you doing, Jemma, this is not why we came here."

"We'll be leaving tomorrow afternoon. We can fly you both to Hub in the morning."

"If you think I'm letting Simmons go alone with this then you must be out of your mind mister," Fitz angrily said.

"Of course you'll be coming as well," Coulson reassured him.

"Wait what?" Fitz asked, confused.

But he was ignored.

"Anyways, that's all for now, I'll see you two tomorrow. Agent Hill will clarify everything for you, you'll be more than prepared tomorrow, don't worry," Coulson told them, turning to leave.

"Thank you, but wait, sir, we didn't catch you name?" Simmons asked.

"Agent Phil Coulson. See you at the Hub guys." With that, he walked out.

Simmons thought for a while, turning to Fitz who still looked shocked.

"Phil Coulson…Agent Couslon? Fitz, where have we heard that name before?" Jemma asked him ask they left the room.

Fitz searched his own brain; the name sounded familiar to him too.

"Wasn't that guy the one who died in that helicopter incident back in New York, what with the American agent who ran away?" Simmons asked unsure.

"Yeah, that's the name, but clearly it's not the same guy cause this one's alive," Fitz commented, trashing the crumpled notes in his hands.

"But why do I have this weird feeling like that's still him?"

Fitz studied her for a moment, and then crinkled his nose, looking around the busy hallways.

"It's the HQ air. Let's find that Agent Hill and get the hell out of here."

* * *

><p><em>AN: Another development chapter, I needed a filler to set pace so apologies if it was a bore. And might I mention how awesome it is to see the familiar usernames from the last story! I can't believe it! JPElles and JigokuShoujosRevenge, you guys certainly rock, thank you for reviewing and thanks to all the readers, please stay tuned. The Thor gang will join SHIELD after a couple chapters so hang there!_

_If you have the time and thought, feel free to leave a review :)_


	3. Abnormality

We have a lot of choices to make, but one never gets to decide what type of existence they're born into.

Regardless, everyone has a choice on how they want to carry that existence.

And for Skye, that choice had already been made when she realized she could a part of a greater purpose.

The Rising Tide.

* * *

><p>"'The Rising Tide?'" Jemma quoted.<p>

"Yes, they're out there, trying to make government intel public," Ward said disgusted.

"Well, they're successful," Agent May responded her quiet voice managing to hold so much authority, so much strength, Ward didn't know if he should be professional, or, well, fangirling.

After all, Agent May was the Cavalry.

"Alright team," Coulson entered the lounge area, "Let's gather up, we've got our first mission."

"The coordinates?" May asked, already moving.

"Already programmed," Coulson smiled.

"Wheels up at five then," May replied, face void of any emotion. Awkwardly, Coulson side-stepped out of her way.

He regarded the rest of his team, the two scientists with little to none field experience and Agent Ward, a man who could pass for a sociopath.

Coulson shrugged away his thoughts and threw his file on the bar ready to begin when Fitz raised his hand.

"Yes Agent Fitz?"

"Uh," the Scotsman looked around the room, "Before we start, can I have a quick snack, I'm feeling a bit peckish…"

Ward gave him a disapproving look and Coulson just stared.

"Fitz," Jemma mumbled warningly under her breath.

Phil didn't know what to say.

* * *

><p>"Skye could be a solid asset," Ward commented.<p>

"She'll need a SO. Someone sharp, someone with experience," May pointedly looked at Ward.

He nodded quickly. He was sharp and he had experience. He could be her SO.

"Okay, yeah, sure," he agreed. Skye had been abducted from her residential van when Coulson and Ward found her, one of the hacktivists working for the Rising Tide. To have her working SHIELD was a risk, even for the small team. But Coulson wasn't the Coulson he had been.

"You sure about this?" May had checked with him, her rare concern forcing Phil to rethink.

"Positive. She knows things we don't, and she has that street perspective, she could turn out to be useful…," he pondered.

Ward observed the hactivist in front of him, the lack of care in her walk but the defensive look on her face, her calculating eyes making him eager to see what would become of her.

Getting up, he turned to May, "When you said that, you were talking about me right? As Skye's SO?"

Agent May walked away before he could finish.

* * *

><p>In a different realm, change had occurred at a similar pace it seemed.<p>

Only two months had passed. For Jane Foster and Darcy Lewis, it didn't seem like a long time, in the context of larger things at least.

And to people who have a forever to live, it's not.

Midgardians had always been a little clueless to the magical world. But it wasn't their fault they were oblivious. As they say, oblivion is inevitable. Unfortunately, oblivion is also unsafe.

Nick Fury, the director of SHIELD, a secret government organization designed to preserve the innocence and oblivion of the said Midgardian knew the price of it all. Oblivion had cost SHIELD lives. Not to mention humiliation.

When a rebellious agent, who was hired as an impulsive decision, managed to demean the best covert operatives in the entire mortal realm with the help of unprecedented divine intervention, worries in Fury's mind flared. Midgard was getting more and more visitors, so many they couldn't handle. But the hosting was a tough job considering that they were all at a severe disadvantage.

Because the other side not only had weapons beyond human comprehension and knowledge far above human intellect; they also were a mystery. SHIELD, who seemed to know everything never understood why and how that day, their rebellious young agent escaped their professional team in a matter of what felt like seconds to them. Nick Fury still remembered the mortification he experienced when he found his team had been transformed into gingerbread men, decorated with sticky sweet items, jokingly turned into a human forest of treats.

The master mind responsible for this was now hanging upside down from a tree.

"Darcy this isn't normal," Jane scolded, her hands on her hips.

"Your mom isn't normal," Darcy shouted back. Somehow her glasses were resting on her chin so Jane had a hard time deciding where to make eye contact.

"You have to stop doing this."

"Your mom has to stop doing this."

"You're crazy."

"Your mom is crazy."

Jane threw her hands in the air in complete exasperation and sat down angrily, not even bothering now. This had been Darcy's behavior for the past month. Jane figured out quickly on her own that time passed much more slowly in Alfheim than it did on earth. This month was just a month. When Darcy complained that they had been in the pleasant utopian realm, she wasn't exaggerating.

They did accomplish a lot in the two months of their stay. The Forbidden Fruit was easily acquired and just like that Jane and Darcy were free from their mortality only to now face the ultimate flaw of immortality; boredom.

Though their life seemed to have been frozen, the sky was just as active as it was before. A month ago Heimdall was successful in tracing back the Asgardian princes and he collected them to take them back. The hurry was the near fall of Asgard. Apparently Dark Elves were trying to overthrow the king, causing chaos and havoc, something Jane knew was not part of Asgardian tolerance. Even change was hard to be accepted in that realm made of gold and perfection.

But the two ladies had not heard of their beloveds since they had left. Vague messages were delivered but only to remind them that Thor and Loki were still alive.

"I haven't said 'I love you' to someone for so long," Darcy considered, her voice breaking in remorse.

"You didn't say it much to Thor anyway," Jane pointed out. Darcy and Thor's relationship was only at the brink of entering a romantic one when war stole Thor from Darcy's life.

"I need to say it though. I'll say it to this tree. I love you, Tree," Darcy mumbled.

"You could have said to me," Jane joked.

"Hey, I just think Sylvie hear needed to hear that."

"Sylvie?"

"The tree. Her name is Sylvie," Darcy said as if it were obvious. The glasses on her jaw shifted and fell and gracelessly, Darcy followed, crashing on to the ground.

"That's it," Jane declared, "We're not doing this anymore." She got up from the rock she was on and walked over to Darcy, offering a hand which Darcy high-fived away with no motivation to get up. Jane sat next to her in the green meadow they had been stuck in for the longest time ever.

"Darcy, we have to leave," Jane said firmly. She had been toying with this idea for days but now all her reasoning pointed that this was the most logical thing to do.

"But I don't want to go back inside," Darcy whined.

"No, I don't mean we go back to the cabin. I mean we leave Alfheim."

"Uh, if you haven't noticed, there's a war going on."

"Not everywhere," Jane pointed out, watching Darcy's reaction.

"I'm…not following," Darcy looked at Jane, trying to understand her best friend's thought process, which she never really did.

"Home, Darcy. We need to go back home."

Jane paused, waiting for hell to break lose. And it did.

"Have you lost your mind?!" Darcy yelled, standing straight up, shoving her glasses on her face almost taking out her eye.

"No, well, possibly, but I can't live like this anymore."

"Oh and jail is better?"

"We don't have to go back to jail…we can figure out another method. Plus they can't kill us, what's the worse they can do?" Jane asked.

"Um, put. Us. In. Jail?!"

"Darcy, we could help people. Since we can't actually die, we can travel around, do philanthropy, research to a large extent, anything. Plus we've been gone for almost two Earth years, I think they'll loosen up a bit," Jane reasoned.

"The boys wouldn't allow it. They won't let us go. Jane, think, Loki, good god you know what he'll do to me if he found out?"

"Well we can't waste our lives here, waiting for them to come back. I mean we're useless here and even if we get a forever to live, isn't it worthy when we live it to the fullest?" Jane exclaimed.

Darcy sighed heavily, running a hand over her face. "I do miss poptarts."

Jane bit her lip to prevent smiling like a lunatic and she moved closer to Darcy to await her response.

Darcy noticed Jane's excitement and rolled her eyes.

"Eh, let's do it. Why not?"

* * *

><p><em>AN: It's been awhile since an update, but I blame school because….school. Though I love learning, studying isn't always a blast. So, there you go, I will put up ch. four as soon as I can, in the meantime, truly thank you for reading and do stay tuned. Feel free to leave a review, those are always helpful and motivating too. Enjoy your day :)_


	4. Two Brain Monkeys and a Robot

A swirl of color surrounded them, a magnified rainbow blinding all senses as they fell further into the universe, whooshing past galaxies unknown back into one which they knew as home.

* * *

><p>Darcy and Jane had made the choice of returning to Midgard with the intent to say. They knew the consequences would be large and heavy but it was the only place they belonged now. They fell into the earth, gracefully stepping onto the familiar ground. They were in the middle of some prairie, Jane decided near the west coast based on the taste of the air and the piercing sunshine. She squinted, looking around, smiling to herself. It was as if they had returned after a millennia but earth remained the same. As Jane smiled at the sky up above, Darcy was more concerned with the large circular mark their arrival had left on the earth.<p>

"Crap," Darcy pointed at the mark they stood on, "Now they'll know where here."

She expected Jane to immediately suggest going back but instead was surprised by Jane's indifferent face, smile intact as she shrugged and tightening the straps of her backpack, beginning to walk towards a narrow road.

Darcy ran behind her.

"You know, immortality has changed you," she half-complained. Jane kept smiling.

* * *

><p>"I was your first mission? That's cute," Skye scowled at Ward. Coulson's decision making Skye a part of the team was a risk that Ward didn't find worthy.<p>

"Well we caught a member of our most pervasive enemy, that's a big deal," Simmons shrugged off Skye's jab.

Fitz was the only one who seemed to agree.

Despite his obvious disdain, Ward had offered to train Skye but his service was quickly rejected.

"I'm not a SHIELD agent, I'm a hacktivist," Skye ranted off, "I'm just a temporary consultant like Coulson said."

Ward rolled his eyes at her, pushing past Fitz to exit the lounge. After their mission capturing Skye, Coulson's team didn't have any pressing missions to attend to and May had predicted that HQ would be quieter after Hill's evaluation of the entire team which wasn't a good one. They were all far too different to function.

"Hey!" Fitz yelled after Ward. Coulson entered the room, shaking his head.

"What's going on?"

"Ward is being a brute as always and Skye's urban moodiness is destroying our working atmosphere," Simmons said matter-of-factly. Again, Fitz nodded, angrily shoving pretzels into his face. "At least in that secure lab we had some respect," he muttered.

"You had respect because no one even knew you existed," Coulson reminded him, not unkindly.

"Well this isn't recognition either. It's torture," Fitz scowled.

"'Urban moodiness'? Can you people stop being so thick-headed for once, did that academy you all went to turn you into freaking zombies?" Skye asked.

Jemma was about to respond when Coulson held up his hand to signal her to stop, unfortunately, Fitz ignored it and Ward picked that moment to return to the lounge.

"A zombie is a corpse historically believed to be revived through witchcraft, so no we're not zombies. That's the issue with your kind, you use words you don't even know the meaning to," the Scotsman said.

"Excuse me? 'My kind'?" Skye dared him to clarify.

"Yes, you kind, the type of girls who stick their heads into places they don't belong," Ward sneered, grabbing some of Fitz's pretzels.

"Hey!" Fitz began, his protest dying under Skye's words.

"Oh I'm sorry, did I join your overrated rendezvous?" she mumbled.

"Well, it was either this or jail," Simmons reminded her.

"Maybe jail would have been better," Skye pondered.

"Maybe. You should reconsider," Ward retorted, earning a glare from the hacktivitst.

"You don't get to say that. You kill people for a living," Skye pointed out.

"I kill _bad_ people. Your kind, that Rising Tide lot, you are the ones that get people killed," he replied.

"Can you stop with 'my kind'? You know what are 'my kind' like? Normal," she yelled.

Simmons scoffed, "So what are we?"

"Two brain monkeys and a robot. Correction, an insufferable robot," Skye told them.

"You're the one who's insufferable," Ward countered, jaw clenching with mild anger.

"Brain monkeys? At least we're the ones actually qualified to be on this Bus," Simmons argued.

"Don't use monkeys as a derogatory term, they are our ancestors and totally adorable so by saying that you're not even insulting anyone but yourself!" Fitz yelled.

Soon everyone was standing, yelling at each other while Coulson stood watching the four kids argue.

"Enough!"

Coulson shouted and they all quieted down. He walked deeper into the lounge, sitting on a chair near the group. He sighed and crossed his hands.

"What's the problem?" he asked.

"The problem," Skye began before anyone else could, "is that this team isn't working out. Ward can't tell which ones Fitz and Simmons, and I have seen more gun fire then both of them. I might as well be team captain."

The SHIELD agents rolled their eyes and even Coulson raised an eyebrow.

Skye shrugged, "Just kidding…but maybe that's not a bad idea," she leaned towards Coulson, whispering the last part.

They almost started arguing again until Coulson said, "You're not wrong."

The agent got up, smoothing his suit. "Ward," he addressed the specialist, "You know six languages. Simmons, you have two PhDs in fields I can't pronounce. And Fitz, you _are_ a rocket scientist. Sort it out," Coulson barked, leaving quickly.

"I can do stuff too," Skye said after him. She turned to look at the SHIELD agents, all of them looking a little ashamed.

Ward rubbed the back of his neck, loosening a knot there. "Sorry guys. I didn't mean all that," he muttered quietly.

"Yes, I'm sorry too," Simmons said, glancing at Skye, shyly, "I think I let my frustration get the best of me."

"Me too," Skye sighed, running a hand over her face. Fitz muttered a quick apology.

After a moment of silence, Ward spoke up again, "Sorry Fitz for taking your pretzels like that, know it was a little rough," he mumbled.

"Not a problem," Fitz lied, "Here, take 'em."

"You sure?"

Fitz nodded.

Simmons smiled at the exchange. Fitz rarely shared food. This was a good sign.

"Hey you wanna help me move some stuff from my van?" Skye asked Jemma.

"Sure. Anything's better than sitting around here, better to get busy until another argument starts," Simmons said and everyone agreed. They spend the next couple of days fighting of boredom in each other's company.

* * *

><p>"I'm bored," Darcy said.<p>

Jane had a map sprawled on the booth table they were occupying in a tiny restaurant in a rural part of California.

"Buy another milkshake then," Jane suggested, scribbling on the map while trying to wake up her neglected cell phone.

"Jane can you hurry and decided where we need to go? If I stay here any longer, I'm gonna eat this entire place," Darcy threatened.

"The wifi here is so rigid but I think there's a motel nearby where we can stay tonight. I'm trying to find one with sufficient internet services…"

"And a bed-in-breakfast," Darcy reminded her.

"Of course," Jane rolled her eyes, "Aha! Found one, it's five miles away, not too bad."

They left the restaurant, strolling on the sidewalk.

"Nothing's really changed," Darcy muttered.

"Except us," Jane nudged her best friend.

"So I'm guessing you have no plans of actually staying in Cali do you?" Darcy guessed.

"Nope."

"Where're we going?"

"I'm going to book plane tickets tonight."

"To…?"

Jane glanced at Darcy sideways, and then quickly looked away. Darcy knew the answer before Jane said it and groaned.

"Are you serious?" she yelled.

Jane just nodded, not knowing if this was the best way.

"We have to try Darcy. We have to clear our name if we want to stay in this world," Jane said.

Darcy just groaned and they both continued walking quietly.

"Man, this is going to suck," Darcy predicted wistfully.

"Yeah, it might," Jane teased her.

"At least now we're practically invisible," Darcy said, gaining some confidence, "We're pretty close to goddess. I mean I always was, but now more than ever. I can handle it."

Jane giggled at Darcy's sudden cheerful mood.

"New York will never know what hit it," Jane laughed as Darcy flipped her hair and jutted her chin up.

"Watch out SHIELD, here we come."

* * *

><p><em>AN: Thanks for reading :) also big thank you to JigokuShoujosRevenge for the cheeky review and really everyone who's reading this. I know the story has had a slow start but things will pick up now. If you're not acquainted with Agents of SHIELD, feel free to message me on any questions you have. I hope it'll make sense from this point on cause here's where it really gets "AU" if you catch my drift._

_Please review, they're always helpful, so let your comments, questions, and/ concerns be known! Enjoy your day and do stay tuned!_


	5. Don't Lick My Hand

_A/N: Hello hello, hope you all like chapter 5, __I do have a question you will see at the end of the chapter, if you have time, please consider giving me you input.__ Anyways, enjoy!_

* * *

><p>Finally a field assignment came their way. Well, it was a little out of their way, but Coulson's knew they'd manage.<p>

"Morocco?" May raised her eyebrows.

Coulson shrugged. "What of it?"

"We're stationed in LA, HQ knows that," May muttered. She was more suspicious than angry.

"Don't you have agents in Morocco?" Skye asked.

"Yes, they do," Ward answered, equally confused.

"Then why-," Skye began asking but Coulson quickly interrupted.

"They want us to go in. Don't question it, unless you'd rather stay here and do nothing for a couple more weeks."

To Fitz it didn't seem like a bad idea, staying in safe company with occasional paperwork sent their way. But he knew the team was bored and didn't have the urge to say anything.

Ward assumed Coulson's word as final and quit pondering on the matter, deciding that he didn't care. Simmons willingly decided to ignore the dark cloud of suspicion as well, though Skye and May especially were difficult to convince.

That night May knocked on Phil's cabin door, demanding an answer.

"Look, I know it seems weird for them to send us all the way to Morocco to just check on someone, but we have to go," Coulson reasoned.

"Give me the truth Phil," was all Agent May had to say.

Coulson rubbed his eyes, stalling and loosening his tie. He threw himself onto his chair, finally his face giving away the confusion he was feeling.

His hazel eyes, then, met May's brown ones, revealing his vulnerability, a side of Phil no other agents had really seen.

"We have to go, May. _Nick Fury_ assigned us this mission."

They both stayed quiet, but the air was filled with unanswered question.

Why would the Director send them to Morrocco?

* * *

><p>"Is this alcoholic?" Darcy asked the airhostess.<p>

"No ma'am," came the polite reply.

"Well why the hell not?" Darcy demanded.

"Um, that's orange juice ma'am."

"Oh."

An old gentleman two seats away signaled for assistance and the airhostess scurried away dutifully, happy to be free from Darcy's obscure questions.

"People on this plane are so dull," she said to Jane who was on her laptop, typing away.

"They're not dull, you're just overly exuberant, that's all," Jane smiled good naturedly.

Darcy sighed dramatically. "Yeah, it really sucks to be me." She turned her heard to read Jane's writing. Jane Foster had a lot of legal explaining to do regarding her two yearlong disappearance, but it was nothing a little hacking and anecdote couldn't solve. "Smart," Darcy snorted. Now she could see why Thor and Loki find humans to be so amusing. There was always a way out and every law created had so many loopholes that they seemed to encourage crime.

"Wonder how Fury's doing. Do you think he'll be happy to see me?" she asked the astrophysics.

Jane laughed quietly. "Oh of course, SHIELD will have a ball when they see your face again."

"I can imagine the tears and gunshots…," Darcy thought.

"Don't forget the armed welcoming committee, probably with the world's deadliest assassins of all time," Jane reminded her.

Darcy shrugged, "I've still got my Taser, I'll be fine."

"That thing has been with you forever hasn't it."

"Yeah, well, it is my other best friend. I'm thinking of naming it."

Jane just laughed again, still focused on her typing.

Darcy took out her headphones. "Well, I guess it's another movie for me then."

"Hm, go with a boring, non-emotional one," Jane recommended.

"Why?"

For the first time in hours, Jane finally looked away from her laptop, straight at Darcy.

"Because," she said, "Last time you were sobbing at the screen so much, I'm pretty sure I heard a baby tell me to put my friend on silent."

Darcy pouted, but Jane had gone back to typing, holding no avail for her appeal. She thew her headphones on her lap and grabbed at her drink again.

"Well, then. Looks like tonight I'll just have to get drunk on orange juice."

* * *

><p>Ward loaded his pistol, securing it in his belt while Fitz poked into Ward's ear to set up the coms.<p>

The team prepared themselves efficiently, not wanting their first mission to be their last.

Coulson marched out with May behind him.

"Alright, let's review this again," Coulson instructed, "Simmons, Fitz, and Skye, you three will stay in the van and Skye you're responsible for driving away if the mission is comprised. Meanwhile, Ward and May will infiltrate the building so we can acquire the drive. Fitz, I'll need you on coms the whole time in case we have any errors with the tech." Everyone nodded hurriedly.

"Questions?" Coulson asked, hiding his anxiety.

No one said a word.

"O-kay then," he inwardly sighed, leading out of the Bus.

Ward stepped next to May. "So, what exactly is on that drive?" he posed the same question every member of the team had been wondering.

"We don't know," May responded with such certainty that all Ward could do was nod.

"You're not scared?" Skye asked and walked faster to catch up May and Ward. "The odds aren't exactly on our sides. We don't even know what we're doing for. It's just a flash drive."

"If Fury asked us to get it, it must be worth it," Ward said and May agreed.

"Our concern isn't what we don't know," she elaborated, "The problem is with what we know. As far as I have heard, this building is most secured building in the entire continent and our extraction team consists of three kids in a van. We have no room for error."

Ward frowned and Skye slowed down, letting them walk away.

What was she getting herself into?

* * *

><p>The van was set up, all coms double-checked and working, for now.<p>

"As soon as we go in, remember to lock down the entrances and exits. We can't have a swat team come in to take us out. We'll deal with whoevers in there," Coulson reminded Skye who fiddled with her laptop, successfully hacking into the security system. That was the easy part; the tough part was doing everything without raising any suspicions that would give away the covert operation.

"How are you guys going to get out?" Fitz asked.

"We'll let you know when to open the exits. Remember guys; let's avoid any combat and interference. They can't know we're here," Coulson stressed. Soon, the field agents left to find an entrance to the tall building located in the middle of a small village, an odd sight. After they left, Skye moved the van away from the building, parking near another industrial looking van. She locked it and joined Fitzsimmons in the back. Fitz offered her some pretzels which she munched on anxiously. Skye looked over at Simmons who smiled at her a reassuring smile, trying to calm the other two.

The three sat there and waited.

There were cameras everywhere.

"This is a nightmare," Coulson mumbled. The three of them were trying different routes to see which one could get them in. Coulson was hovering around the bottom of the building. All doors were open thanks to Skye, but they were all exposed. May and Ward were at the roof now, after climbing up, trying to be discrete, using the trees to hide themselves. Eventually May got the idea of checking out the windows below and finally found an empty located at the third floor of the five story building.

"Coulson, Ward, found a clear room," she mumbled.

"Check if it any air vents," Coulson whispered.

"I see two."

"Cameras?" Ward asked into his mic, still standing on the roof of the building, constantly peeping over his shoulder with May's rope secure in his hand.

"I don't see any. They must be hidden," May said.

"Skye, can you disable them?" Coulson asked her via the much helpful coms system.

"Well, yeah, but I'm pretty sure they'll notice," Skye mentioned.

"May?" Coulson asked for ideas.

"I say we go in. If you can, just turn off the cameras off the third floor, you can do it sequentially," May decided.

"Um, I have an idea," Fitz offered.

"What is it Fitz?" Coulson asked.

"What if we sent in a recorded feed of the rooms, that way they'll think the cameras are still working, maybe?" the Scotsman posed, slightly unsure.

But Jemma flashed him a thumbs up.

"Skye?" Coulson asked.

"On it," she confirmed, "It'll take me ten minutes though."

"You have five."

"Got it, boss man."

Eventually they got in and May stepped into the ventilation system and within minutes they had the security system down. They had it all as planned until they got to the basement.

And the coms went off.

Skye, Fitz, and Simmons watched horrified as their screen revealed the lasers protecting the drive. It didn't take them much time to figure out that the coms were down and Coulson, May, and Ward were about to walk into a trap.

First the alarms went off. Then the guards rushed in. Ward took them out as quickly as they came in and with the outside doors firmly shut, the security team was delayed since the incoming teams had no entrance.

But Coulson's team didn't have an exit either. He quickly grabbed the drive in the room that had been displayed like a trophy or artifact in the middle of the laser protected room.

Cars rushed into the parking lot the van was parked at and Simmons pushed Skye to drive away.

"No, they'll notice us leaving," Fitz shouted, grabbing Skye backwards and she fell into the back once again.

"Well, if we stay here, they'll notice that too, and then it'll be too late, Skye you have to go," Simmons yelled, pushing her up.

"You two, shut up!" Skye screamed.

The van got quiet as they all went silent, listening to the men filing out of the black vans that had just rushed in.

"We can't leave without them," Skye whispered. "We have to get them out."

"But Coulson specifically told us to leave," Simmons whispered back, desperately.

"Simmons, we have to do something," Skye reasoned and finally Fitz agreed too.

The three watched quietly, afraid to be caught. There were a couple armed men standing next to the van and they knew that they were one fight away from getting caught.

"Let's open the gates," Skye suggested.

"Are you mad?" Fitzsimmons whisper-yelled.

"Guys, they have no way of getting out."

They stayed quiet again. Inside May and Ward were fighting off all the basement guards while upstairs people panicked.

"Idea!" Simmons said in her normal voice, causing Fitz to land his palm across her face to shut her up while Skye mouthed, "Shhhh!"

The voices outside the van grew louder and intrigued and the team cowered back, hiding. Fitz, who had brought a blanket, closed it over the team which covered the team. The men, who lazily gazed into the van saw a mass of maroon in the backseat which they dismissed, but they didn't move away.

Fitz hand was still on Jemma's mouth which she licked in protest. Fitz mock-yelled back in horror, but Simmons grabbed him upright, pulling Skye towards her too.

"Listen to me," Simmons demanded silently, "In times of orderly disorder, it only makes sense to add confusion. The only way they can come out safely is if these guards don't suspect them. You have to create a scene to distract both them and the people inside."

"Yeah but how?" Skye asked.

"Make the fire alarm go off or something Skye! I'm sure you've been in this kind of situation before."

"Yeah! Do whatever you used to do whenever you got in trouble and didn't want anyone to find out," Fitz offered, whispering loudly.

The hactivist studied the eager scientists. "Should I be offended?"

"Skye, please."

"Okay, not bad idea, guess I can pull something crazy…," Skye started typing again.

"Can't believe you licked my hand," Fitz whispered to Simmons who rolled her eyes. "Don't ever lick my hand again."

Couple minutes later, just as Coulson was about to instruct his team to go all out and reveal their presence, a fire alarm rang loud and proud, causing more commotion with the afraid workers still locked in upstairs.

A voice spoke over the intercom that made everyone freak out even more.

"Attention, people of…this building. You are surrounded by, um, the deadliest team on earth. If you want to live, you must comply to the Rising Tide. If you dare stay in this building for one more second, prepare to be eliminated. You will scurry, yes, you will run far like hopeless little monkeys otherwise we will find you. You have fifteen minutes to clear the area. Mwahaha. Haha. Ha."

There was silence. Then the sprinklers went off. Then the screaming began.

"Was that?" Ward asked.

"Fitz," May shook her head. But the illusion seemed to work. The guards they were fighting looked anxious to get out.

All the doors opened and Coulson and team caught onto the message. The joined the sea of desperate civilians, rushing out the door, grabbing random belongings and supplies to piling into the parking lot, keen to leave quickly. The armed guards were washed away.

It took less than 60 seconds for them to find the van and get inside, with May driving, they were the first ones to leave the parking lot.

When they were at a safe distance, Coulson turned around to look at his extraction team.

"Not bad guys. But really? 'Hopeless little monkeys?'" he looked at Fitz.

The team erupted with laughter; even May smiled.

"We were under a lot of pressure," Fitz shrugged.

"So were we," Ward retorted. But his next words were never expected. "Yet we never would come up with that plan. Great job guys, you all saved our asses today."

"Oh em gee, Agent Grant Ward just complimented us you guys," Skye mock-fangirled, fanning herself with her hand.

"This is alarming," Fitz nodded.

"Totally unanticipated. Wow, I think I'm going into shock. Can't believe I'm witnessing this," Jemma joined in.

Ward sighed, already annoyed.

Skye leaned in towards him, placing a hand on his arm to get his attention.

"Ward," she said sincerely, making him look up into her eyes, "In all seriousness, I have to ask you something."

Her intense gaze complied him to listen.

"Tell me," she began dramatically, "Did it physically hurt?"

"Huh?"

"Do you have a bruise? Do you need an icepack?"

Confused, Ward gave her a questioning look until he finally got it. "Ha ha, very funny," he mumbled, grouchily turning away.

"I think that compliment tired him," Simmons laughed and they all started giggling again until Ward joined in.

Coulson smiled goofily at May, very pleased with the new development in the team.

May gave him a meaningful look which quickly reminded Coulson of an important issue.

"Skye I need your laptop," Coulson held out his hand.

Skye, in response, held it closer to her. "Why?" she squinted at him.

"I'm afraid Agent Fury isn't answering my calls. I might have to settle for a strongly-worded email."

"Why are you calling Fury already? Shouldn't we wait for further orders?" Simmons asked, confused at the informal gesture.

"I'm afraid the questions I have cannot wait," Coulson said, taking Skye's laptop.

"Why not? We just broke into this building and avoided a mass-murder. We could use a break," Fitz said with a mouthful of pretzels.

"That 'building' was a SHIELD facility," May said, stunning the three in the back.

"Wait, what?" Skye articulated the reaction of everyone else.

Ward turned to them to explain. "When we went in, the SHIELD logo was everywhere in the basement and that swat team that came in to eliminate us? That was sent by SHIELD."

"But why in the world would Fury ask you to break into a SHIELD facility?" Simmons asked, utterly perplexed.

"That is why I'm emailing," Coulson said, disdain evident in his voice. Despite his casual tone it was easy for everyone to sense the tension.

"That's so weird. That drive belongs to SHIELD; why would Fury of all people need a hijack team? And what the heck is in that flash drive?" Skye asked.

"We don't know. All we know is that there were fifty-something agents hired with the sole purpose to protect it," Ward answered.

"Those people in the building? Didn't they recognize you guys?"

"No one saw us until the end. But they weren't SHIELD agents. May suspects they didn't even know the basement was hiding something."

"Wow," Skye muttered, impressed, or well she seemed to be until she said:

"You people are really messed up."

* * *

><p><em>AN: Long chapter wasn't it? Hopefully it wasn't too painful to read but hey there's some good stuff coming. _

_**I've got a question** and I don't know how to conduct a poll on this site so if you could review your answer or pm it to me; that would be fantastic and very much appreciated. I have this story sectioned under the genres, "friendship" and "adventure" which I find to be accurate but are there genres you feel go with the story as well? I wanted to see if I could replace "adventure" with "humor" but then I went through an inner turmoil over my sense of humor. So basically, I'm asking you, is this funny enough to go under the "humor" category or do you feel that "adventure" is more accurate? Do let me know, pretty please._

_Thank you._

_As always, thank you for reading, it means a lot. The story currently has almost 500 views, yay. Thanks to the fab Princess PrettyPants __and incredible JigokuShoujosRevenge (who now I know wants to slap me. Yay for that.) for your comments. Please feel free to review if you have things to say and stay tuned!_


	6. It's Over

"Can you not?" Darcy squinted at the burst of light.

"I was going to ask you the same thing."

Jane Foster stood in the doorway, fully dressed, wearing a backpack and carrying a set of folders under her arm. She marched into Darcy's already trashed her apartment room and began stuffing things back into the suitcases.

Darcy trudged over to the light switch, quickly turning it off and smiling in peace. That smile ran short once Jane pulled the curtains back. They were renting an extremely old apartment, tucked in an alley of New York. It reminded Darcy of her old home, except this one was cleaner and nicer. It smelled of roses and Asgard. It felt like home.

Whatever that was.

Darcy snuggled back into the bed, ignoring Jane's protests. Eventually Jane declared she would go in alone and the idea of Jane in the SHIELD HQ building made Darcy feel a whole new level of anxiety that prompted her to jump off the bed to stop her best friend.

Darcy had been to HQ before. She would never send Jane there alone.

* * *

><p>Ward glared at Skye.<p>

"Don't," he warned.

Skye stared him square in the eye, trying to be intimidating. The staring contest went on until Skye lost her composure and crossed her eyes, making Ward roll his eyes while she went into a giggling fit. Ward looked down at her until Skye moved her game piece and won.

He pouted and that made the hactivitst laugh even harder.

Meanwhile, Coulson paced back in forth in his office.

"What do I tell them?" he sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"The truth," May deadpanned.

"Fitzsimmons will be heartbroken. And Skye just joined. And Ward, May, he'll lose it. I can't believe this," Coulson mumbled desperately.

Agent May rested her hand on his shoulder in an attempt to calm him down.

"Coulson, you know what Fury's message said. We may be the only real team left and we have other problems coming. Don't make this the toughest decision of your life," May honestly told him.

"You're right, I'm overreacting," Coulson agreed. "We have to tell the kids."

"HYDRA has infiltrated us to the point that I don't know if SHIELD will survive. There's no SHIELD anymore. It's over."

* * *

><p>"I can't believe this isn't over. Why am I still here? Why are we still doing this?" Darcy asked the roof of the van.<p>

"We're almost there," Jane told her which made them both more nervous than excited. They were on the long road Darcy and Thor once had escaped from.

"This road is really creepy," Jane muttered. Maybe letting Darcy have her way and coming here in the dark night wasn't the best idea.

Jane had used Darcy's old SHIELD ID at the gate which was oddly unoccupied. The system let them in surprisingly, which Darcy assumed to be a dangerous error while Jane took it as a more positive sign and continued on to the orderly pathway.

"Maybe Nick Fury will be okay with this," Jane hoped.

"Most likely, he won't. Jane, don't be surprised if they try to kill you," Darcy warned her for the millionth time.

Jane winced, but nodded, trying to be practical.

They drove in silence but eventually they got to the HQ building which looked exactly the same as when Darcy had left.

As in it was bursting with red flashes, looking like it was about to collapse.

"What's going on?" Darcy sat up straighter. The building was surrounded by vans and flashing lights. Jane tried to park away from them but an armed man jumped in front of them, pointed something that Jane wouldn't compare to a pistol. It was much too large to only carry a bullet.

"Step out of the vehicle," a monotonous voice instructed.

The girls didn't move.

"Agent Lewis, exit the vehicle or prepare to be terminated," it said again.

Darcy sighed. "Ah, the classical SHIELD welcome."

"Should we?" Jane asked, unlocking the door.

Darcy nodded and they both slipped out, greeted by two more armed guards who tried to carry them inside. Willingly heading to their doom, Jane and Darcy walked into the flashing building. It was worse on the inside. Darcy squinted under the strain of red surrounding them while the guard trudged her forward. They passed dark hallways and busy rooms. If the red lights didn't give away the severity of the situation, the sight in front of the girls did.

In the main coms room, where SHIELD's intel was controlled and distributed, stood a tall man, hovering over a very damaged –

"Nick Fury?" Darcy said, too loudly. The tall man and what Darcy presumed to be, his assistant, turned their attention to Jane and Darcy.

"Who are they?" the assistant asked, or rather, barked at the guards.

"This is ex-SHIELD agent Darcy Lewis," the guard behind Darcy said, the monotonous tone dropped for a complying one.

"Ex?" the tall man quoted.

"She was removed due to the New Mexico incident," the other guard explained. Darcy looked at the guard more closely, deciding that she had seen this SHIELD agent before.

"What incident?" the assistance asked.

"Not now Bakshi, we have more pressing matters to attend to," the tall man pointed at the Director kneeling before him.

"Should I get rid of them sir?" Bakshi asked.

The tall man glanced at Darcy and then his eyes shifted to Jane. Curious, he stared at her.

"Who's her friend?" he asked Bakshi who looked at the guard assigned to Jane.

The guard looked at Jane and then at the assistant, unsure. The other one mumbled apologetically, "We do not know sir. She came with this one."

"Who are you, my lovely?" the tall man was suddenly very interested in Jane.

"Dr. Jane Foster, I'm an astrophysicist. Darcy's my intern," Jane answered calmly.

"You hired an ex-SHIELD agent as your intern?"

"She told me she had resigned," Jane deadpanned.

"Ah, well she lied didn't she? What brought you here then?"

"A satellite picked up weird readings and we'd been staying in the city but since there was too much light pollution, I asked Darcy if she knew of any place with a clear field."

"She brought you here?"

"We checked the readings before coming and this was the most significant location."

"The SHIELD headquarters?" the man asked amused.

Jane had to smile at that. "I had no idea. Darcy had an accident last month. She's been crazier since."

There was little truth in that statement. Darcy had always been crazy.

"Are you saying she has amnesia?"

"I don't know. She told me she knew what she was doing. I'm sorry if this is an inconvenience. We really had no idea," Jane explained. Her calmness irritated the assistant.

"Darcy Lewis is well aware of everything," Bakshi said, looking down at Darcy who fought back the urge to stick out her tongue. This is why she left SHIELD; the condescending tone…and the tacky uniform.

"But Dr. Foster seems confused," the man muttered, still watching Jane. No matter how much he stared at her, Jane stood there, unfazed.

"Are you, Dr. Foster? Are you confused?" he asked her.

"Not anymore," Jane answered honestly.

"So you know that you coming here reveals your agenda of perhaps infiltrating SHIELD or finishing whatever unfinished business from this New Mexico incident, or whatever it may be, it matters not. Your agenda holds no prevail for SHIELD no longer exists," the tall man told them, turning to a battered Fury. "Am I wrong, Director?"

"Yes," Fury said, earning him a kick from Bakshi.

"What are you doing?" Darcy yelled at Bakshi who looked at Darcy like she was next.

"My dear, we're just doing something that should have been done a while ago. I'm just disappointed that it took so long, we mustn't procrastinate so ever again Bakshi," the man said.

"Who the fuck do you think you are?" Darcy shouted as Bakshi stepped on Fury's leg, eliciting a sickening crunch and a howl from Fury. This was too much.

"We're HYDRA. Join us, and you shall get the salvation you seek. Otherwise, you can find room in Nicholas Fury's grave. It's your choice," the tall man answered, looking directly at Jane.

But Jane wasn't looking at the HYDRA leader anymore. Her eyes were fixed on the broken man below him. She had to do something.

"Bakshi, end him. We have other matters to address, best if we leave the ladies here to contemplate their future. Oh, and tell the security chief to attend to Dr. Foster here in case she does join us. We'd be happy to make you comply, Dr. Jane," the man smiled creepily and walked off.

Jane still didn't look at him.

Bakshi took out his gun and shot Fury in one foot.

Fury yelled in pain.

Bakshi shot his other foot.

Darcy started screaming profanities until one guard closed her mouth and Bakshi threatened to shoot Darcy too.

Jane decided enough was enough.

"Stop."

Bakshi turned to Jane. "You know, you don't have to be here," he told her, pointing the gun at her.

"You monster," Jane whispered.

"Oh is that the best you can do? Your friend here sure has a more colorful language than you seem to. Hm, I wonder…" with that, Bakshi shot Darcy.

Everything happened fast.

Darcy fell forward while Jane screamed.

And suddenly the guards were on fire.

The entire room went up in flames. Fire caught on the desk, the equipment, all the paperwork, everything. Bakshi looked around, finally fear in his eyes. Darcy laid on the ground unconscious. The guards were burning in the fire they couldn't seem to put out no matter how hard they tried. Jane tried not to panic, running towards the fallen ex-Director first, pulling him out of the flames, tugging him up. A desk chair with wheels rolled towards her and she placed Fury on it, tenderly but too fast for Fury to understand what was going on. Jane then somehow managed to pick up Darcy, looping her arm around Jane's neck, holding Darcy to her by the waist. Using a free arm, Jane pushed Fury and Darcy out the door, closely followed by an enraging Bakshi.

Suddenly, the panic alarms grew louder and the room got redder. Jane ran.

Bakshi ran faster. He almost overtook her, making a lung to a painful grab, trying to stop her.

However, once his hand touched Jane, a piercing pain ran up his arm and all his senses were assaulted by what looked like sharp, dark red knives, threatening to consume him.

It wasn't a human pain.

Within minutes, Jane made it out the main door, passed fifty-some guards, into her van. She drove out and away with the sound of bullets being repelled backwards, slicing through the air, as a warning to all those who fired.

From the ground, Bakshi saw the destruction the astrophysicist had caused. An explosion went out and a white siren went off, alerting HYDRA to leave. Bakshi withered in pain until Whitehall walked above him.

"Who did this?" was all he asked.

"It was the doctor sir. She did this."

Whithall, the tall man who had brought Nick Fury to his knees, snapped his jaw once.

"Don't worry. We'll make her comply."

SHIELD HQ went down in flames in minutes.

* * *

><p><em>AN: I wrote the extension this morning and then the site got crossed off and so did all the work. It was frustrating writing this for the second time. That's my sad story. I don't hear any tiny violins so I think it would be best to just move on…sigh._

_Any who, thank you for reading, do stay tuned and please review, let me know how you're feeling._


	7. Together

Hand tremoring, Jane shut the motel door. The night sky was still above her, reminding her that the events of the day had gone by at such speed; this was an anomaly considering the rate at which her life had been passing for the past months.

Within a course of forty minutes, Jane had rescued wounded Darcy and Nick Fury. Healing had become Jane's new expertise with her recently acquired skills and it helped her fix up the damage Hydra had caused. Darcy was shot and under mortal conditions would have been facing mortal consequences but now she was free from those limitations. Fury, however, would have to take a longer time off. Jane tried to find comfort in the fact that both the director and her best friend were alive and breathing.

But her heart still felt a murmuring sadness from the scary situation. What would have Jane done if something happened to Darcy? What if they did this, as mortals? Lives would have been lost, and there were. Remembering the broken pieces SHIELD was left in, Jane began to quietly cry. She began to miss a life where her worries were limited to Darcy and the stars. And even the life with her love, Loki, by her side made more sense than this one. Cruelty wasn't something Jane could tolerate on her own, even as the glorified immortal she had become. Her body may have gotten stronger, but her heart was as empathetic as before. It pained her, the loss of lives, the possibility of losing Darcy, and most importantly, the vacancy in heart Loki's absence had caused.

After a while, the lights inside the window flickered, alerting Jane that Darcy had finally awoken. She chastised herself for crying; deciding that she would now do whatever she could, for the sake of Darcy and for the sake of SHIELD. As far she knew there were innocent people in danger and there was no way Jane would let HYDRA kill more people. Now with her gifts, Jane was invincible and she would do anything in her power to make sure HYDRA never got what they wanted.

* * *

><p>"What now?"<p>

That question hung in the air for what felt like hours before Coulson could reply, "I don't know."

Fury had given them no instruction for the drive and as far as Coulson knew, it could have been worthless. The drive was heavily protected, enough that Coulson knew better than to ask Skye to crack the information.

"So SHIELD no longer exists?" Skye asked, as stunned as everyone else. With her affiliation with the Rising Tide, SHIELD had been her common enemy for the past year of her life. To have it end this way was…

"This is…so….anticlimactic," was all she could come up with.

Ward gave her an angry look. "Is that why you joined, to observe a freak show? I'm sorry you're disappointed that the party's over. Maybe you should go look for a new organization to destroy."

"Hey, my intention was never destroy SHIELD! That's not what the Rising Tide is about…," Skye began her defensive rant.

Simmons threw her hands up in exasperation. "Now's not the time for this, Skye. To an extent, Ward is right. You have to determine where you're loyalties lie. If Rising Tide means this much to you, it's probably better, and safer for you to go back."

Skye blinked at the group. Fitz was angrily drawing on a piece of paper and moving around shifting equipment to set up for packing. Ward was silently fuming in a corner while Coulson sat in the middle looking like a lost puppy. May and Simmons were watching Fitz zoom in and out of the lounge as he began a pile of stuff as if the world was about to collapse.

Looking around made her question everything. Skye didn't know what she wanted anymore. Yes, the Rising Tide was a passion of hers but the only reason she joined was to find her family. That agenda hadn't changed. But the situation had. Was this where she wanted to be?

She slipped into her van on the Bus. It felt like home. But it wasn't. Skye had never had a home. She then went to her assigned bunker. It was a closet sized make-shift bedroom. All Skye had in there was a box of clothes, a bobble-head from her van, and her blanket in addition to the ones that came with her bed. She sat on it, trying to think and stop twitching. She lay down and began thinking about everything at once. What was one to do when everything they were a part of seemed to end? She had joined the Rising Tide because of her ex-boyfriend, Miles, who turned out to be a selfish cheat who told her one thing and did something else. Skye had no family and the girls at the orphanage had always been quick to alienate her, casting her away because of her uncanny abilities with technology most of girls had no access too. And now SHIELD, which had been an experience for her, just ended so soon. When was she ever going to get the chance to belong somewhere?

The train of thought ended when Skye heard yelling from the lounge.

Fitz had eventually lost it and was flinging things around. In hindsight, watching the usually anti-violence engineer fling his gadgets at the field agents in the room would be amusing, but currently, it revealed to Skye the pain the rest of the team was in. SHIELD had been in her life as a buffer but for the others, it was all they believed in.

And now it was gone.

Watching the screaming, crying, and reprimanding, Skye suddenly knew what she wanted.

She ran forwards to the raging Fitz and wrapped her arms around him in a bear hug. She encompassed him in her arms and Fitz slumped forward, tears streaming down his face. Simmons joined their hug, crying her heart out. The field agents looked on, now somber than ever, taking in the loss.

"It's okay, it's okay," Skye comforted Fitzsimmons, allowing them to sob on her shoulder. Fitz shook his head furiously.

"No it's not okay," he said, lips quivering.

Simmons sadly sighed, holding onto Skye's hand tightly.

"I know but SHIELD may not exist in official terms, but guys we can still rebuild SHIELD," Skye suggested.

Everyone quieted down.

"What's the idea Skye?" May finally intervened, curious.

Skye tucked her hair. "Um, well, even though HQ and all that is shut down, it doesn't mean we have to. We can still do the work we were doing before, saving people and stuff. It's not over if we keep it going. I mean in its core, SHIELD agenda to help protect the innocent is worth continuing, even if we do it through minor funding and less flashy badges. We still have the skills and each other. We can do this, guys, we can try."

"We?" Coulson quoted.

Skye looked him in the eye.

"I've made my decision. My loyalties lie with SHIELD, at least this new version anyway. Yes I didn't agree with your methods before but I want to be a part of something this. I want to help people. If you keep helping people, I'll stay on your side," Skye vowed.

Coulson suddenly got up. It was as if all the melancholy fell off his shoulder.

"That's all I needed to hear," he nodded, his old self again. The shift was abrupt and the team watched stunned as Coulson went into his office to make some more calls.

Ward excused himself to cook something for the team. Skye quickly offered to help, earning an appreciative nod from the specialist. May returned to pilot the plane; they had been hiding in a clear field in the middle of nowhere with the help of the cloaking technology Fitz had set up.

Fitzsimmons stayed in the lounge, together in silence.

"So…we're rebuilding SHIELD? Are we really going to this?" Fitz sniffled.

Jemma beamed at him, "Of course Fitz. We'll get through this. Together," she promised.

* * *

><p>"I need to make a call."<p>

"No, you don't."

"Yes I do."

"No. You don't," Jane persisted.

Fury huffed. "Damn woman, why can't you see that I am capable of talking to another person?"

"The stress on you mind will not help you get any better. Just forget about work and focus on healing," Jane explained.

Fury looked at her as if she was crazy.

"Is she out of her mind?" he asked Darcy.

Darcy handed him her own cell phone, ignoring Jane's protests.

"Who are you calling?" Darcy asked after Jane left the room. Fury was practically paralyzed from the waist down, plus had four broken ribs and a badly burnt arm.

"None of your business."

"I can help you," Darcy offered.

"Thank you. This is still isn't any of your business," Fury told her, squinting at the phone screen.

"You know the person's number?"

"I can't call who I need to; otherwise HYDRA'll track them down. I need a secured line, you got one?"

Darcy blinked. "What were you expecting me to say when you asked that question?"

"Point taken," Fury nodded, "Don't suppose madam 'go-back-to-sleep' can get me one?"

"I can ask Jane. She'll probably refuse you know. She doesn't want you thinking about anything stressful."

"I know. But right now there are people in danger. Think she'll understand that?"

Darcy nodded and left.

Meanwhile, Fury opened up Darcy's email, sending an email to Agent Jemma Simmons.

* * *

><p>"These are coordinates," Coulson said, confused.<p>

"Yes, I got them this morning in my email from Agent Lewis," Jemma explained.

"Lewis? That's impossible."

"Unless it's not," May gave Coulson a pointed look.

"You-you think this is a trap?"

"I can't tell you. But it doesn't have to be Agent Lewis who sent that."

"It could be HYDRA," Coulson thought out loud.

"Or it could be the Director. You did say sir that Director Fury would reveal some information," Simmons pointed out.

"Ask Skye if she can track down the location from which this email was sent. I need to know who sent these," Coulson told Simmons who scurried out of his office.

"Are you sure that's the best idea? Shouldn't we be hiding while HYDRA looks for us?" May asked.

"Then we'll be hiding forever. We can't do that May. If this is Fury's way of helping us, I need to make sure he's okay. If it's HYDRA, I need to make sure we don't go there."

"And if it's Darcy Lewis?"

"Then we find out what she wants."

* * *

><p><em>AN: Thank you, JigokuShoujosRevenge for commenting and also widening my vocabulary there. Thank you everyone for reading, means a lot. If you enjoy it, please stay tuned and as always if you have any questions, comments or concerns, even if it's like "hey I have no idea what's happening" message me or leave a review and I will clarify it for you._

_Have a lovely day/night wherever you are :)_


End file.
